DENVER (Ticker) -- It's only five games into the schedule, but
the Denver Nuggets already are ahead of last season's pace.

Nick Van Exel had 26 points and six assists and Chauncey Billups
made four free throws in the final 16 seconds to preserve
Denver's first victory of the year, a 100-94 triumph over the
Dallas Mavericks.

Denver, which lost its first four games by an average of 12
points, started the 1997-98 season with 12 straight losses en
route to a franchise-worst 11-71 record, the second-worst mark
in NBA history.

The victory was the first for Nuggets coach Mike D'Antoni, who
served as the team's director of player personnel during the
nightmarish 1997-98 campaign.

"No one said this was going to be easy," D'Antoni said. "It was
a good win for us. We had to have it. Our guys responded well.
It's nice to get a win. At least I can get one night's sleep.
This was a must-win game for us, but we should have had a win
against the Lakers two nights ago."

The Nuggets nearly blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead but were
able to hang on after Dallas rallied within 97-94 with 12
seconds left.

Billups hit two from the foul line with 10 seconds to play and
rookie Raef LaFrentz added a free throw with two seconds left to
seal the victory.

Michael Finley scored 28 points and Steve Nash added 10 and 11
assists for the Mavericks, who have lost three straight since
their only win at Golden State on February 7.

"We just didn't come out with the intensity we needed to," said
Finley. "If we would have played the way we had our first four
games, we would have won this game easily. Hopefully we'll
leave this attitude in Denver and when we get on the plane maybe
we will get something positive out of it."

Denver grabbed a 94-78 lead when LaFrentz converted the first of
two free throws with 5:03 left, only to see the Mavericks storm
back with a 16-3 outburst over the next 4:53.

Finley started the spurt with consecutive layups, Hubert Davis
drilled a 3-pointer, Cedric Ceballos connected on a free throw
and Shawn Bradley converted a layup to bring the Mavericks
within 94-88 with 30 seconds remaining.

Van Exel pushed the lead to seven points by hitting a free
throw, but Nash drilled a 3-pointer cutting the deficit to 95-91
with 19 seconds left. After two free throws by Billups, Erick
Strickland nailed a 3-pointer for Dallas, making it a
one-possession game with 10.3 seconds to play. But Dallas was
not able to score again as Denver held on.

Van Exel's 27 points were his most since December 26, 1997, when
he scored 30 for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Clippers.
He was 10-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point
range, after shooting 29 percent (19-of-65) from the field in
the season's first four contests.

"I got some good looks and just knocked them down," said Van
Exel. "This was a must-win. We've got some pretty good teams
coming up. I can't deny being a streaky shooter but hopefully
all of the work I did this summer will help me."

A layup by Dirk Nowitzki with 8:27 remaining in the second
quarter brought the Mavericks within 32-30. But Denver scored
20 of the game's next 25 points to grab a 52-35 advantage on Van
Exel's 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the half.

Van Exel had eight points during the spurt, which allowed the
Nuggets to take a 55-40 advantage into the locker room. Denver
was able to maintain at least a 14-point advantage for the first
9:19 of the third quarter, but the Mavs closed the period with a
7-0 run to draw within 76-66.

Antonio McDyees scored 23 points for the Nuggets, marking the
third time in four games he has reached the 20-point mark.
LaFrentz had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Billups contributed
11 points for Denver, which shot 41 percent (32-of-78) and was
6-of-24 from 3-point range.

"It was pretty fun until the fourth quarter," said McDyees. "It
got kind of tense and it almost slipped away from us. The guys
did a good job and battled tonight. I don't know what our
attitude would have been like if we lost."

Strickland came off the bench to tally 11 points and six
rebounds for Dallas, which shot 40 percent (32-of-78) and was
6-of-27 from beyond the arc.

"Our game plan before the game was not very good and we had to
make a change," said Mavericks coach Don Nelson. "It almost
worked. Strickland was a well-needed piece to our game. He got
rebounds and gave us some energy."

Both teams committed 16 turnovers, but the Nuggets held a huge
advantage from the foul line, connecting on 30-of-37 free
throws. Dallas was just 12-of-18 from the line.

"This is not what I had in mind to start the road trip," Nash
said. "We have to put it behind us and go, but I'm getting
tired of saying that."